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. 2017 Sep 5;6:12. Originally published 2017 Jan 5. [Version 2] doi: 10.12688/f1000research.10493.2

Table 1. Sources of information on toxicology: database repositories for predictive systems toxicology investigations and risk assessment.

Toxicology Databases
Database Portals/Projects
Inh Portal/Project
name
Description Data type URL
Safety
Evaluation
Ultimately
Replacing
Animal Testing
(SEURAT -1)
•     Cluster of 7 projects and portal to
5 databases: SCR&Tox, HeMiBio,
DETECTIVE, COSMOS, NOTOX,
ToxBank, and COACH
•     Aims to simulate repeated dosage toxicity
testing in a complex physiologic but
animal-free in vitro model
•     Elucidation of biomarkers and analysis in
stem cell derived organotypic systems
•      In silico simulations to predict toxicity,
tissue dosimetry, and proof of concept
that new strategy accurately predicts liver
toxicity in vivo
Access regulated
per dataset; no
inhalation data
http://www.seurat-1.eu/
BioSharing •     Portal of curated web-based, user-
queryable registries of linked information
on content standards, databases, and
data policies in the life sciences; broadly
covers the biological, natural, and
biomedical sciences
Several databases https://biosharing.org/biodbcore/
EU-ToxRisk •     Integrated European program aiming
towards mechanism-based toxicity
testing and risk assessment in nonanimal
organotypic human in vitro models
•     Applies mechanistic molecular
knowledge to develop ‘Adverse Outcome
Pathways,’ enabling in silico knowledge
generation regarding toxicity
•     Integrates information from cellular
and molecular biology, computational
toxicology models, and systems biology
to assess toxic responses to repeated
chemical exposure
Website under
construction
http://www.eu-toxrisk.eu/
Data
Infrastructure for
Chemical Safety
(diXa)
•     Collection of European toxicogenomics
experiments with crosslinks to several
globally-available chemical and
molecular medicine databases
•     Contains data across several disciplines,
including chemical toxicity, dosimetry,
omics analyses, and chemical
catalogues, integrated into a single
resource with a focus towards the
development of nonanimal tests for
prediction of chemical safety
Individual cigarette
smoke (CS) chemical
information
http://wwwdev.ebi.ac.uk/fg/dixa/
index.html
TOXNET •     Collection of several databases and
publications covering topics such
as chemicals and drugs, diseases
and the environment, environmental
health, occupational safety and health,
poisoning, risk assessment and
regulations, and toxicology
•     Provides links to PubMed and NLM
interface for associated publications in
biomedical toxicology field
Mostly publication
abstracts and links
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/
ToxCast™/Tox21 •     Tox21 is a United States federal
collaboration to develop better toxicity
assessment methods. Tox21 has resulted
in the screening of over 10,000 chemicals
via ~50 high-throughput assays
•     The EPA has contributed the chemical
screening results from the Toxicity
Forecaster (i.e., ToxCast™), an initiative
to assess and screen ~2,000 chemicals
for toxicity to cells and proteins via
over 700 automated, high-throughput
screening assays
•     Data consist of chemicals used, assays
performed, genes and pathways
implicated, and endpoints
Data available via
iCSS dashboard:
individual CS
chemical information,
publication links,
graphs, and assay
data files
http://actor.epa.gov/dashboard/
Inh Individual
Databases
PubChem •     Provides information on small-molecule
biochemical activity
•     Specialized databases within PubChem
(PCSubstance, PCCompound,
PCBioAssay) contain physical and
chemical properties and nomenclature of
over 100 million substances
•     Cross-linked entries across the three
databases (Substance, Compound, and
BioAssay) and NCBI Entrez
•     PCBioAssay database contains
bioactivity screen information, raw assay
data, and readouts of screening protocols
for chemical substances in PCSubstance
Publications and
assay records
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
ChEBI •     Dictionary of identifiable, distinct
molecular entities (nucleic acids,
peptides and proteins) linking various
classes of entities and their parents/
children
•     Follows the nomenclature and
terminology laid out by IUPAC and NC-
IUPAC
•     The ontology classes encompass various
science and engineering disciplines
(e.g., nicotine is linked to its structural,
chemical, and biological properties)
•     Provides links to several other databases
and publications for chemicals
Individual CS
constituents, disease
associations
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi
Comparative
Toxicogenomics
Database (CTD)
•     Collection of interlinked public databases
with information on the effects of drugs
and chemical exposure on human
biochemical processes
•     Manually curated information from
scientific journal articles on chemical-
disease and gene-disease relationships
integrated with various other data,
including those of pathways (e.g.,
KEGG) and gene ontology, to elucidate
the underlying molecular landscape of
environmentally borne diseases
Independent studies
and publications
http://ctdbase.org/
Aggregated
Computational
Toxicology
Resource
(ACToR)
•     Publicly available online resource for
toxicity data for over 500,000 chemicals
accumulated and referenced from EPA
repository of toxicity databases such as
ToxCastDB (chemical screening data),
Exposure Data (effects of chemical
exposure on humans), and DSSTox
(structural and annotation information)
•     Provides physicochemical, in vitro
and in vivo toxicology data on many
toxic substances, including industrial
chemicals, pesticides, and other
contaminants
Publications, reports/
surveys from other
government/private
agencies, and other
databases and
studies
http://actor.epa.gov/
Chemical
Effects in
Biological
Systems (CEBS)
•     Toxicogenomics database with a
conglomeration of omics, classical
toxicology, gene, and protein regulatory
network data on human health and
environmental toxicology
•     User-queryable interface allows search
for protocols, chemicals, endpoints,
genes/proteins, tissue type, toxicological
parameters, etc., to facilitate hypothesis-
driven systems toxicology research and
risk-assessment studies
Publications,
reports/studies
from government/
private agencies,
databases, and
independent
investigations
*Links ToxCast21
Phase II
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/
research/resources/databases/
cebs
CompTox
Chemistry
Dashboard
•     Access to >740,000 chemical substances
associated with both experimental and
predicted properties
https://comptox.epa.gov
Online Chemical
Database
(OCHEM)
•     Modeling tool for development of
substance properties-quantitative
structure-activity and structure-activity
(QSPR/QSAR) models
•     Repository for scientists’ models to allow
cross examination and estimation of the
ADMET properties of any compound
https://ochem.eu
ToxBank •     Subsidiary of the SEURAT-1 project that
unifies all the in vitro, in vivo, and in silico
data and experimental protocols under
one roof to facilitate integrated data
analysis
•     Enables the development of an industry
standard data repository to replace
repeated in vivo repeated dose toxicity
testing
•     Compound wiki provides information on
selected hepato-/cardiotoxic compounds
Access is regulated
per dataset; no
inhalation data
http://toxbank.net/

The table highlights sources of information on in vivo chemical inhalation and individual in vitro chemical toxicity. The type of data available and, where known, user accessibility (e.g., open source vs licensing) have also been highlighted. While a number of databases and portals are still active, a few of them are no longer maintained. Green color in the “Inh” column means that the resource contains inhalation data.